New citizens sworn in May 3 at Miller Auditorium

KALAMAZOO -- Some 500 new American citizens who will be sworn
in Friday, May 3, when the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service holds a naturalization ceremony at WMU's Miller Auditorium.

A crowd of about 2,500 is expected to attend the event, which
will take place at 2:30 p.m. U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, Kalamazoo
Mayor Robert Jones and Dr. Fredrick J. Dobney, Western Michigan
University provost and vice president for academic affairs, are
among the officials who will be on hand to greet the new citizens.

Immigrants from 81 nations are among those who will be sworn
in. The oldest participant will be an 82-year-old woman who was
born in Russia. Those participating will take the Oath of Allegiance
to the United States, which will be administered by U.S. District
Court Judge Gordon J. Quist.

The ceremony is being coordinated by the Detroit office of
the INS, which serves the entire state of Michigan. The International
Instute of Detroit is co-sponsoring the event, and WMU will act
as the host. A brief reception will follow the ceremony.